Report: Recession hurt kids' health, well-being

One in four Virginia children lives in a home where no parent has a full-time, year-round job.

About 3 percent have lived in a home that faced foreclosure in recent years, and 14 percent live in poverty.

But other states fared worse, according to the 2011 Kids Count Data Book, which examined the effect of the recession on the country's children. Overall, Virginia ranked 14th-highest in key indicators of child health and well-being in the 22nd annual report.

The recession has many of the nation's children living in families that face "deep economic insecurity," the report said. Racial and ethnic disparities in income and wealth are wider than they were before the recession.

"These conditions will put a substantial portion of the nation's children at risk for adverse educational, health and other negative outcomes that may limit their future productivity and our country's long-term economic stability," the report said.

At 25 percent, Virginia had the eighth-lowest percentage of children living in a home where no parent had a full-time, year-round job. Nationally, 31 percent of children were living in such households.

Having unemployed parents puts kids at higher risk of poor health and educational outcomes, the report said. There's a link between family income and young children's academic achievement and later success, the report said. Black children were nearly twice as likely as white children to have an unemployed parent.

Virginia had the 11th lowest child poverty rate at 14 percent. Nationally, one in five, or 20 percent, of children live in poverty, the report said.

"Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to experience health and behavior problems, face difficulty in school, become teen parents and earn less or be unemployed as adults," the report said.

Virginia ranked 20th among states for having 3 percent of children affected by foreclosure since 2007. The foreclosure crisis also widened the racial and ethnic gap in homeownership. Nationally, the homeownership rate for whites was nearly 75 percent, compared to 45 percent for black families, the report said.

"Savings and homeownership are associated with improved cognitive development among school-age children, as well as with increased high school graduation rates," the report said. "Loss of a home can throw children's lives into turmoil and disrupt their education."

In other factors examined in the report:

•The state ranked in the lower half — 39th — for its infant mortality rate of 7.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. That's higher than the national figure of 6.8 per 1,000.

•Virginia ranked 26th for having 8.3 percent of babies with a low birth weight. Nationally, it was 8.2 percent.

•The state ranked 15th for the death rate of children ages 1 to 14, with 18 deaths per 100,000. Nationally, it was 19 per 100,000.

•The state's teen death rate was 53 per 100,000, ranking the state 13th. The national rate was 62 per 100,000.

•Virginia fared well for having a low number of kids not in school, placing third with 4 percent. Nationally, it was 6 percent.